Fraudulent Misrepresentation and Contract Voidability

An individual appealed a lower court decision that upheld the validity of a contract for the sale of a business, which the appellant claimed was voidable due to fraud concerning the business's actual profitability. The high court quashed the lower court's decision, reasoning that while the trial court correctly identified the element of fraudulent misrepresentation regarding the financial data provided during negotiations, it failed to establish whether the appellant's consent was vitiated by this fraud to the extent that they would not have entered the agreement had the truth been known, thus requiring further factual determination on the causal link between the deceit and the formation of the contract.